As foretold here, Lewis Hamilton won the 2007 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That was a good prediction on my part and, as I also said last week, "Having seen him race, I say he's the next world champion. I doubt anyone can catch him."

I stand by that. Hamilton is Formula One's next World Champion. Simply awesome.

151-45. That seems a little weak, but I'll take it. Those 45 state reps were in favor of letting the people vote on someone's civil rights. Civil rights should not be put to a popular vote. Still, the right side won, so I guess I'm quibbling.

I hate this state sometimes. I hate the taxes. I hate the Mass Pike. I hate the corruption.

But I love the fact that we told the "family values" people, and especially Ronald Crews, to go fuck themselves.

UPDATE: if you want to see bigotry revealed, read Howie Carr's Heraldcolumn today. What a complete asshole he is; I never quite realized. (BTW, Howie, that was democracy in action - representative democracy.)

Let's get one thing out of the way: it's incredible that Robert Kubica survived the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix. His accident, about halfway through the race, took the wind out of the crowds' sails - at least out of the sails of the sober, which included me. I wish F1 had announced something; the uncertainty was the worst. I hope he's back soon. Now to the actual race.

It was clear, from Lap 1 -when Alonso went off course in a desperate bid for first- that Lewis Hamilton was going to win. His speed through Turn One (Senna Corner), where I sat, was noticeably and significantly faster than anyone else's. He had the car and the course mastered, and his driving was amazing. Simply amazing. Having seen him race, I say he's the next world champion. I doubt anyone can catch him.

At left is Lap One, Turn One. Click for larger, as always. That's Alonso going off, overdriving the corner as he would three or four times in the race. Hamilton is the lead car (from pole) of the pack properly on course.

At right is Alonso's second or third agricultural excursion. He simply couldn't drive that turn as fast as Hamilton. He may have psyched himself out, or pushed too hard trying to catch his team's number two. It must be tough to be reigning world champ and have your own teammate showing you up. So far in 2007, Hamilton's a better driver.

Let's see what happens at Indy. I predict Hamilton wins. He's had a taste, and he's that good.

The McLarens rounding the first turn on a gorgeous Saturday at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in practice for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. Later in the day, they qualified in spots one and two for the race. In this photo, Alonso is ahead, but that's not how the qualification turned out. Race day tomorrow, with perfect weather forecast. Hamilton's on the pole.